Altvater: Tiger Woods to stay away from golf for now

Tiger Woods announced via his website, TigerWoods.com, that his back is feeling better, he needs to work on his game and would return to tournament golf soon.

How soon is the question.

Fred Altvater

Woods made his 2015 debut two weeks ago at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He posted 73-82 in the first two rounds and missed the 36-hole cut by a wide margin. The second round 11-over-par 82 included, one triple-bogey, two double-bogeys, six bogeys and a partridge in a pear tree.

It was the worst competitive round of Woods’ career.

He flew home to southern Florida to rest and practice for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines the next week. On his return flight from Florida back to the west coast, he stopped off in Colorado to watch his significant other Lindsey Vonn compete in the World Championships at Vail.

Woods has won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times, plus he won the 2008 U.S. Open on the same course. Needless to say, he is comfortable playing in San Diego. His old nemesis, the bad back, flared once more during the first round on Thursday. He was visibly in pain and was forced to withdraw after just 11 holes.

After Woods had warmed up and prepared to start his first round at Torrey Pines, fog caused a one hour forty-five minute delay. When Woods’ group, that included, Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel was able to tee off, his back spasmed and prevented him from finishing his round.

This latest setback has to scare Woods and seriously hamper his quest to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 career major championships.

Woods did say in his website post: ”This latest injury is not related to my previous surgery. I am having daily physical therapy and I am feeling better every day.”

His play at the Hero World Challenge last December was less than stellar and his poor performance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open has to be embarrassing to the 14-time major champion. He has decided to step away from tour golf until he regains confidence in his ailing golf game.

Woods went on to say: “Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me. My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I’ve said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back. Next week I will practice at Medalist and at home getting ready for the rest of the year. I am committed to getting back to the pinnacle of my game. I’d like to play The Honda Classic — it’s a tournament in my hometown and it’s important to me — but I won’t be there unless my game is tournament-ready. That’s not fair to anyone. I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon. “

Woods has slipped to No. 62 in the Official World Golf Ranking and is not eligible for the World Golf Championship Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral.

The Honda Classic is contested at PGA National Golf Club very near Woods’ home in Jupiter Beach, Florida, in two weeks. The question is whether he will be ready to test his game again.

If he does not compete in either the Honda Classic or the WGC-Cadillac Championship, he is down to a precious few events to enter prior to the Masters at the beginning of April.

The Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational round out the Florida Swing and the tour then moves to Texas for two events before the Masters.

He has withdrawn three times in his last nine events and missed three cuts. His best finish was T-25 at the 2014 WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Woods was the author of the most envied and closely watched golf career for his first 12 years on tour. His last six year, with the exception of 2013, have been a struggle.

American sports fans like to see their heroes succeed after falling to the depths of despair.

If Woods can return and once again win major championships, he is setting himself up to be one the best stories in sports history.

Wonder what the movie rights will be worth for that story? You can bet Mark Steinberg already has his calculator working overtime on that question.

All quotes taken from: http://www.tigerwoods.com/home. Find more golf information from Fred Altvater at NWO Golf Links, nwo.back9mediagroup.com, and on Back 9 Report at http://bit.ly/1lOvJjN.

Woods and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone

Firestone Country Club in Akron is hosting the 16th WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this week. Firestone has been the site of a PGA Tour event since 1962 when the old World Series of Golf was won by Jack Nicklaus.

Fred Altvater

Over the years the name for the golf tournament has changed, but the golf course hasn’t.

Firestone is one-of-the-best 7,360 yard, par-70 golf courses in the world. The tree-lined fairways bend and roll with the hilly terrain and slick greens create severe problems for the professionals.

The course was originally opened for play in 1929 as a park to provide a respite for Firestone employees. Two more courses, the West and the North, were added to the facility over the years.

In 1974, Firestone became the only golf club to host three PGA Tour events in the same year. The American Classic, the CBS Classic and the World Series of Golf were all held on the North, West and South courses.

The South Course has also hosted three PGA Championships. Jay Hebert won the 1960 PGA Championship, Al Geiberger won in 1966 and Jack Nicklaus won the 1975 PGA Championship.

In recent years, Tiger Woods has considered the South Course at Firestone his personal playground. He has won eight WGC-Bridgestone Invitationals and is the defending champion this year.

Woods will be making just his third start since returning from back surgery in late March. He missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National and finished 69th at the Open Championship two weeks ago.

He has only made five starts all season, is ranked No. 215 and is questionable to make the FedEx Cup playoffs. With just this tournament plus the PGA Championship next week at Valhalla Golf Club, Woods needs two top-five finishes to earn a spot in the lucrative playoffs.

Only the Top 50 in the world, past members of a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team or tournament winners are invited to participate this week.

It is a prestigious field and only the best of the best are in Akron.

Woods will have his work cut out for him, but one only needs to look back to 2013, when he shot 15-under-par and won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by an impressive seven shots.

Book Review: ‘Arnie, Seve and a Fleck of Golf History’

Bill Fields is the senior editor for Golf World and has traveled the country following the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours for over 20 years.

Fred Altvater

He has put together a collection of his best articles in a book for golf fans to get a behind the scenes look at some of the more colorful and entertaining golfers throughout history.

The book includes 30 articles covering 1994-2011, plus a new essay about Tiger Woods, with updates at the end of each chapter.

In the first section of the book Fields not only tackles well-known names such as Seve Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson, but there are also interesting pieces on lesser-known individuals who played a huge role in golf.

Harry Vardon beat tuberculosis early in his life and is the only man to win six Open Championships. Willie Anderson is the only player to have won three consecutive U.S. Opens in 1903-05 and is one of only four men to have won four U.S. Open trophies.

J.J. McDermott was the first American-born winner of the U.S. Open and struggled with mental illness throughout his life.

He includes the best women players too. Glenna Collett Vare won six U.S. Women’s Amateur titles and the Vare Trophy, given to the LPGA Tour player with the lowest average score for the year, is named in her honor.

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Mickey Wright may have been “simply the best,” and many have felt she had the best swing ever witnessed. Her 13 major titles and 82 career wins are a testament to her precision on the golf course.

The second section of the book addresses the courses and competitions that left an indelible impact on the game of golf throughout history.

Fields does a masterful job of outlining the importance of Francis Ouimet’s improbable victory in the 1913 U.S. Open. That one significant event brought the masses to the game in America.

He gives insight into Nelson’s impressive streak of 11 consecutive wins in 1945 and Ben Hogan’s nearly perfect ending in the 1967 Masters.

Some of the loudest cheers ever heard echoing through the valleys and tall pines at Augusta National occurred in 1986, when Jack Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket at the age of 46.

He tells the story of the mistake that has become one of the most famous holes in golf, No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass and calls it “Devil’s Island.”

The final section of the book is dedicated to the more colorful characters in golf. For them golf was more than just posting a score.

Jimmy Demaret added flair and color to golf and became one of its first television announcers.

Everyone thought Hogan had won the 1955 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. He had even given his ball to then USGA Executive Director Joe Dey and was going to retire from the game permanently.

Jack Fleck had other ideas and spoiled Hogan’s grand farewell by winning a Monday playoff over Hogan. It is still one of the most spectacular upsets of all time.

Dey was one of the most influential administrators in the history of golf. He helped bring golf into the modern era by brokering the split of the tour players from the PGA and became the first Commissioner of the PGA Tour.

Bob Drum was truly one of the more colorful characters to ever hang around the golf circuit. He became one of the premier golf writers of the time and brought the game to golf fans around the country.

Fields also tackles the battle Casey Martin waged with the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart during tournaments.

“Arnie, Seve and a Fleck of Golf History” is written with a smooth flowing style that will engage every reader.

Anyone who considers himself a true golf fan must add this excellent work of golf history to their literary collection.

Northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan golf fans have plenty of opportunities to see the biggest stars in golf up close and in person this summer.

Fred Altvater

The PGA Tour has three events nearby and the Champions Tour will hold one of its major championships in Michigan. Along with the Marathon Classic here in Toledo the women of the LPGA Tour will stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the inaugural Meijer Classic. See the stars of tomorrow playing on the Web.com Tour in three tournaments. Cleveland, Columbus and Fort Wayne all host Web.com Tour events.

To start the season the Champions Tour is holding one of its majors, the Senior PGA Championship, at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan, on May 22-25. Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer and Kenny Perry will headline a stellar field of the best Champions Tour players.

Benton Harbor is on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore and is a three-hour drive on the turnpike (I-80) from Toledo.

Coming at the end of May, Jack Nicklaus will once again host the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, over Memorial Day weekend May 29-June 1.

Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy have already committed to be in the field at the Memorial and the tournament always draws one of the strongest fields of the year as players prepare for the upcoming U.S. Open.

On the heels of the Memorial Tournament, the Web.com stops in Ohio for the Cleveland Open at Westlake Golf Club on June 5-8.

The LPGA visits Toledo for the annual Marathon Classic on July 17-20 at Highland Meadows Golf Club. The Marathon Classic always draws a quality field and many past champions have also won major championships.

Winner of the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Lexi Thompson has already committed to play in the Marathon Classic as well as fan favorites Paula Creamer, Stacy Lewis, Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie.

On July 31-Aug. 3 the WGC-Bridgestone will be held at Firestone Country Club in Akron. It annually invites only the elite of the professional golf. Players have to be in the Top 50 in the world rankings, a member of the last Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team or have won a sanctioned tournament within the past calendar year.

Next on the golf schedule is the final major of the year. The PGA Championship will be held Aug. 7-10, at Valhalla Golf Club near Louisville, Kentucky.

Jason Dufner is the defending champion, but he will have to contend with Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson and wunderkind, Jordan Spieth.

Louisville is a five-hour drive down I-75 and might be a bit too far for most fans, but the chance to attend a major only comes around so often.

The LPGA returns to Michigan for the inaugural Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids the same week, Aug. 7-10. Grand Rapids is a great city to visit and is only a little over three hours by car from Toledo.

The Web.com Tour will be holding its race to earn PGA Tour cards at the end of the season with the Web.com Tour Final Series.

The Web.com Tour Final Series combines the Top 75 finishers from the Web.com Tour regular season with Nos. 125-200 from the PGA Tour to offer 25 shiny new PGA Tour cards for next year.

Two of those events are held within easy driving distance of Toledo.

The Hotel Fitness Championship is the first event of the final four events on the Web.com Tour. It is held at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Aug. 28-31.

With the completion of US 24 from Toledo to Fort Wayne, it is an easy hour drive down the four-lane.

The third leg of the Web.com Tour Final Series is the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship held at the Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course on Sept. 11-14.

Scarlet is a wonderful Alister MacKenzie design which was renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 2007.

It’s well worth the drive to watch the youngsters trying to make it to the bright lights and big paychecks of the PGA Tour, plus fans get to walk the same course Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf played as collegians.

Nine professional golf tournaments within easy driving distance of Toledo give any golf fan a reason to fuel up the family vehicle and view the best golfers in the world.

Whatever your taste, PGA Tour, Champions Tour, LPGA or Web.com, they are all available to area golf fans.

Altvater: Westwood’s Hall of Fame career missing only major title

Many people have forgotten that Lee Westwood spent 22 weeks as the No. 1 ranked player in the world in the latter part of 2010 and early 2011. Most golf fans think of him as a very good European Tour player that has not won a major championship.

Fred Altvater

Westwood will turn 41 years old this week and won the Maybank Malaysian Open for his 23rd European Tour win last Sunday. He also has four wins in Japan, seven on the Asian Tour, three wins on the Sunshine Tour and one Australasia Tour win.

He has two victories on the PGA Tour, the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans and the 2010 St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

Prior to the win in Malaysia, his last win came on the European Tour at the 2012 Nordea Masters nearly two years ago.

He has been a major performer on eight European Ryder Cup teams and will, most likely, be a key member of Captain Paul McGinley’s team at Gleneagles in September.

He is just one of a few golfers to win on every continent of the world and has recovered from the depths of golfing disparity. After a very successful start to his golfing career, he completely lost his desire and game. He fell to No. 182 in the world in 2002 before beginning his climb back, culminated by reaching No. 1 at the end of 2010.

Even with the success that Westwood has had in his 20-year career, most golf fans think of him at the top of the dreaded Best Player That Hasn’t Won a Major list. He has played very well in majors, but has not been able to win one. Since 2008, he has finished inside the top 10 in 12 of the last 25 major championships.

In that time, he finished T-3 six times and was runner-up twice.

Between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, he even moved his family from England to Florida to be able to practice during the winter and better prepare for the major championships.

His good friend Darren Clarke won the 2011 Open Championship at the age of 42. Ernie Els was also 42 when he won the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham. Phil Mickelson was 43 when he won last year at Muirfield, but Westwood knows his time to win at least one career major is fleeting.

At 41, Westwood still has a couple years remaining, but very few major championships are won by players over 45 years old.

In modern golf history only four men have accomplished that feat. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship. Jack Nicklaus was 46 in 1986 when he won his sixth green jacket. Jerry Barber won the 1961 PGA Championship at the age of 45 and Hale Irwin was 45 when he won his third U.S. Open title.

Old Tom Morris won the 1867 Open Championship at the age of 46, but the fields were less competitive back then.

Forty wins worldwide, a member of six winning Ryder Cup teams and 22 weeks at No. 1. He has won nearly €30 million on the European Tour and another $16 million on the PGA Tour. Westwood has had a career worthy of World Golf Hall of Fame consideration. The only jewel missing in his crown is a major championship trophy.

Altvater: Masters is easiest major championship to win

You have heard the prognosticators drone on and on about the favorites to win the 2014 Masters. Perhaps 20-25 men in the field this week at Augusta National have a realistic chance to win the tournament.

Fred Altvater

The other side of the equation is there are several in the field this week that do not.

History has shown that first-time participants in the Masters do not normally win. Harris English, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Stadler and Jimmy Walker all have PGA Tour wins, but are playing in their first Masters.

English from the University of Georgia and Reed from Augusta State are both familiar with Augusta National having played it on numerous occasions while in college. Stadler’s father was the Masters champion in 1982, but Kevin was only 2 years old at the time.

Eighteen professionals plus six amateurs will be playing for the first time this week — a Masters record. If history can be used to predict future results, these are 24 names that can be deducted from the field of 97 of possible winners this week.

Of the remaining 73 professional golfers, 25-28 are battling injury or their game is just not in the proper place right now to be a factor in the tournament. That leaves only approximately 45 golfers who have any chance to win this week.

If rookies have a disadvantage, veterans should have an advantage over the bulk of the field. Past champions have already experienced the intense pressure of the final round and may have a slight advantage.

There are 19 past champions in the field of the 2014 Masters, 10 of whom are over the age of 50: Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson, Larry Mize, Sandy Lyle, Mark O’Meara, Ian Woosnam, Vijay Singh and Craig Stadler. Of this group possibly Couples or Langer have a remote chance of finding the leaderboard on Sunday.

Miguel Angel Jimenez is another player over the age of 50 who qualified for the tournament, but will find it difficult to score on Augusta National. In 14 previous Masters’ appearances he only has three top-10 finishes and none in the past five years.

Major championships are simply not won by men over the age of 50.

Subtract another nine players from the 45 veterans and 36 possible winners remain.

Another fact is that very few players win the Masters after the age of 40. Jack Nicklaus and a couple others are the exception to this rule, but probably only 44-year-old Phil Mickelson and 2009 Masters Champion, Angel Cabrera, who is now also 44 years old, have a chance to win this year.

Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Mike Weir, Steve Stricker and Jose Maria Olazabal are all over the age of 40.

Although Clarke and Els have won Open Championships while in their 40s, one would not expect that to happen at Augusta this week.

Westwood and Stricker both have a hole in their impressive resumes and would love to win at least one major championship before they put away their clubs.

Els has won two U.S. Opens and two Open Championships, but is still looking for the elusive green jacket.

Fitness plays a role at Augusta National. It is extremely hilly and a very tough walk. For older players, just traversing the grounds for four days takes a toll on feet, ankles, legs and backs.

Of the nine 40-somethings, possibly two have a real shot of winning. Subtract another seven from 36 and you are left with 29 golfers that have a reasonable chance of donning the green jacket on Sunday evening.

Justin Rose, Jason Day, Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan have been dealing with nagging injuries throughout the early part of 2014. The question becomes are they healthy enough to compete this week?

Long hitters like Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson may have an advantage this year because of the trees that were lost to the ice storms that hit the south late in the winter.

Few defending champions have succeeded wining in consecutive years, Scott will try to join that exclusive club. McIlroy struggled here in 2011 and is looking to add his third major title to his resume. Johnson has been very close on three other occasions to winning a major championship and Watson won here in 2012.

Driving lanes and landing areas have been essentially widened which will allow these bombers to exploit their huge advantage off the tee box.

If the course returns to the firm, fast conditions that are expected former winners Zach Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen may have an advantage due to their knowledge and experience.

A firm golf course could also help short-game gurus Luke Donald and Brandt Snedeker get their first major win.

The other major championships, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship all have 144-man fields and require a stringent qualification process to gain entry. The players performing the best at the moment are in the field and there are a larger number of players to beat.

Once you subtract all of the noncontenders from the field in the 2014 Masters only a handful of participants actually have a realistic chance to win. That is the reason we see the big names at the top of the leaderboard every year on Sunday afternoon as the leaders make the turn and head to the back nine.

Augusta National offers a perfect setting for a major championship. Its history and traditions are unquestioned, but it is the easiest major championship to win.

Altvater: Champions Tour will use par-3 for Legends of Golf

The Champions Tour recently announced the Legends of Golf tournament, which started the concept of senior tour professional golf, will use a par-3 course in competition this year.

The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf began in 1978, when Jimmy Demaret and Fred Raphael invited a few old golf professional buddies to a small tournament in Austin, Texas.

Fred Altvater

Gardner Dickinson and Sam Snead teamed up to win that first event and the PGA Senior Tour, now the Champions Tour, grew from that humble beginning.

The Legends of Golf has been held in Savannah, Ga., for the past 11 years, but lost its sponsor and its spot on the Champions Tour 2014 schedule.

A white knight, in the form of the founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, Johnny Morris, came to the rescue and will bring the Legends of Golf to his Big Cedar Lodge Wilderness Resort, just outside of Branson, Mo.

The tournament will be held during three days on the par-3 “Top of the Rock” and Buffalo Ridge, an 18-hole championship golf course.

True legends of the game, Jack Nicklaus, who designed “Top of the Rock,” Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Gary Player have committed to play in the event.

Many golf professionals probably first learned to play on a par-3 or executive short course. Par-3 golf courses can help you improve your short game, play an enjoyable round with your family or provide a nonthreatening venue for beginners to learn the game.

The question is do par-3 golf courses have a place in tournament play?

Threetops, in Gaylord, Mich., was host to the ESPN Par-3 Shootout for several years. The event was sponsored by Ford Motor Company and featured Phil Mickelson, along with three other professionals, in a two-day competition over the scenic par-3 course.

It brought some of golf’s biggest names to the northern Michigan golf resort and Lee Trevino added to the excitement with an ace at the seventh hole in 2001.

The tournament provided a more relaxed atmosphere for the players, who wore microphones and it provided great entertainment value for golf fans.

On the Wednesday prior to the start of the Masters, Augusta National hosts a par-3 tournament for participants and the enjoyment of the fans.

Augusta National has a par-3 course nestled among the pines and traverses around a small lake.

It annually draws a large crowd to witness the greats of the game play in a less formal setting. Many players let their children accompany them as caddies for the round.

Par-3 golf courses offer other benefits for golfers and the environment as well.

They are less expensive to maintain for superintendents. They require less acreage to build, less water for irrigation and less fertilization.

Beginners, children and older golfers can enjoy a round of golf and appreciate the shorter golf course’s demands for length off the tee.

One of the major complaints from people who no longer play golf is the time spent on the golf course. Par-3 golf courses can be played in a much shorter period of time. Six holes can normally be accomplished in one hour and a full nine holes should only require 90 minutes out of a busy schedule.

There is a certain stigma attached to par-3 golf courses. Some feel they are just one small step above putt-putt golf.

I would challenge that argument and point out that for beginners, the short course provides a perfect venue to learn the game.

Experienced golfers can use a par-3 to play an emergency nine or to improve their short game.

Many golf courses, built as part of a residential community, may lack the real estate necessary to design a suitable 18-hole championship golf course, but could fit in a challenging nine-hole par-3 and a regulation length nine-hole course.

Everyone gives lip service to wanting to grow the game of golf, but not many do anything constructive to actually change the golf culture.

I applaud the Champions Tour for using a par-3 course in the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf tournament and look forward to viewing it in June.

Altvater: Long live ‘The King’

Arnold Palmer will celebrate his 84th birthday Sept. 10 at his home in Latrobe, Pa.

Palmer brought professional golf onto television sets all across the land and drew working class America to the game of golf.

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A cigarette dangling from his lips, a tug at the waist of his trousers and his “go for broke” style enamored men and women alike.

He bridged the gap between Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan and brought golf into the modern era.

He won his first official PGA Tour tournament at the 1955 Canadian Open. The last and 62nd win of his career came in the 1973 Hope Desert Classic.

Along the way he won seven major championships, including four Masters’ Green Jackets. Augusta National and Arnold Palmer will be forever linked in golf history. He, along with Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, serve as honorary starters on Thursday morning of Masters week.

Through various endorsement agreements with Fortune 500 companies, Palmer is still annually one of the highest grossing sports figures in America.

Throughout his life he became close friends with entertainers as well as politicians. Bob Hope and President Dwight Eisenhower were frequent golfing partners.

Palmer has also been recognized off the golf course. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Palmer’s golf design company was founded in 1972 and has built more than 300 golf courses worldwide. He is most proud of his Bay Hill Golf Club in Orlando and has made it his winter residence for many years. Bay Hill also hosts the Arnold Palmer Invitational every March and is a favorite among tour professionals.

He was instrumental in the foundation and development of the Golf Channel. It was the first cable channel dedicated solely to covering golf.

The man even has a drink named in his honor.

Arnold Palmer achieved the “American dream” with charisma, style and a strong work ethic. But perhaps his most important work will continue long after “The King” is gone.

He has passionately donated his time, money and talents to the growth of the Arnold Palmer Medical Center. The medical center includes the 158-bed Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the 285-bed Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.

Palmer and his former wife, Winnie, became associated with the hospital in the mid 1980s and has helped to raise millions of dollars for the facilities. No child is refused treatment and thousands of families have benefited and will continue to benefit from treatment provided by the Arnold Palmer Medical Center.

Arnold Palmer was a child of the Great Depression and fully understands the gifts he has received throughout his lifetime. He signs every autograph with precision, meets every eye with a warm friendly wink and greets everyone as a long-lost friend.

Altvater: Does Rory McIlroy intimidate Tiger Woods?

World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman recently made comments that Tiger Woods was intimidated by Rory McIlroy. The iconic Jack Nicklaus has even weighed in on the intimidation issue.

Tiger sees Rory as a talented youngster just beginning to reach his full potential on the PGA Tour. He understands his position as a 15-year veteran on tour and, being a competition junkie, needs a worthy opponent to bring out his best. Rory is that guy — a talented competitor that requires the best efforts of Tiger.

Rory has won two majors over the past two years: the 2011 U. S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship. Tiger has not won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.

Rory has been No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for 13 weeks. Tiger was No. 1 for 623 weeks and has worked his way back to the No. 2 spot in the world.

Tiger posted lower scores than Rory in four of the five rounds they were paired during the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but the fact Tiger did not win a major in 2012 has to be a huge disappointment for him. He had a very good finish to 2011 and the outlook for 2012 was very bright

His game has gotten progressively better throughout the year and he appears to be on the right track to be holding major hardware in the not too distant future.

Rory has all of the shots, hits his driver very long and straight and makes a ton of putts. The demands of travel, sponsor commitments and the daily grind a golf professional faces is the challenge Rory has had to learn to handle.

If Tiger can find something else on which to focus his efforts, such as reclaiming his No. 1 Official World Golf Ranking, the major victories will come.

Even though Rory has won two FedEx Cup Playoff events this year, Tiger could still win at East Lake and collect the FedEx Cup and the $10 million that goes along with it.

That might also put some drama into the PGA Tour Player of the Year voting although Rory’s Wanamaker Cup would probably trump Tiger’s FedEx Cup.

Is Tiger intimidated by Rory?

With all due respect to Greg Norman, he may just a little off base with that notion.

Altvater: Tiger continues to improve but no major titles in 2012

More than four years have passed for Tiger Woods with no major championship titles to add to his collection.

The last time we saw Tiger hoist a major trophy was that historic 2008 U.S. Open win on a broken leg at Torrey Pines over Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff.

After Tiger’s encouraging performances in the Australian Open and the Presidents Cup last fall everyone was confident that he was in the groove and would get back into the major hunt in 2012. Another positive sign was Tiger winning his own small field invitational, the Chevron World Championship in December.

He was back in the hunt in 2012, but he didn’t bag a Green Jacket, U.S. Open trophy, Claret Jug or Wanamaker.

Tiger has won three tournaments in 2012. He even shot a final round 62 at the Honda Classic in March to put a scare into eventual winner Rory McIlroy and collect a second place finish. He even tied and surpassed Jack Nicklaus in the number of PGA Tour wins. With 74 official wins, he is now just eight behind Sam Snead.

Woods has climbed from outside the top-50 on the Official World Golf Rankings all the way back to No. 3 behind Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald. With his strong play this year on the PGA Tour he is No. 1 on the FedEx Cup standings heading into the FedEx Playoffs in two weeks. You know he wants that silver cup filled with $10 million.

Even with all this success this year, it has been another lost year for Tiger Woods.

Tiger’s No. 1 goal is to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ total of 18 major titles. Tiger has 14 majors and his play in the majors this year was somewhat less than stellar.

The Masters was a fiasco. He shot 72-76-72-74, five-over par for the week, and was never a factor, finishing T-40. He even had a nasty temper tantrum and club-kicking incident at the 16th hole on Friday.

The U.S. Open at Olympic Club started off just as Tiger would have scripted. He played magnificently the first two rounds. Every part of his game was under control. The weekend was a completely different kettle of fish, however. After holding the 36-hole lead, he shot 76-73 on the weekend to finish T-21.

At Royal Lytham in the Open Championship, Tiger played very conservatively all week and was in contention right up until he took a rather unfortunate triple-bogey seven on the sixth hole on Sunday. He did go on to finish T-3 but in the end no Claret Jug for Tiger.

The PGA Championship at Kiawah Island was Tiger’s last hope to salvage his year and get a major. He was in contention until the winds blew the Wanamaker Trophy out of his grasp on Saturday. He made three bogeys through his first seven holes at the start of the third round. Severe weather halted play just as Tiger had a putt for par on the eighth hole. Play was resumed Sunday morning and Tiger missed his par putt to start his day and posted a disturbing four-over par 40 for the front nine. He did manage three birdies and a bogey on the back nine for a two-over par 74 for the round. He started the final round Sunday afternoon seven shots behind eventual winner and heir apparent Rory McIlroy. Tiger finished T-11 and was in the mix until Saturday but it was another case of the game disappearing on the weekend at a major.

Tiger did not shoot a round under par in a major tournament on the weekend in 2012. That is an amazing statistic that tells the story of a player that is not quite ready for prime time.

Tiger will turn 37 at the end of December. Knee surgeries, personal problems and swing changes have kept him from being competitive and performing at the level he would like. Will time and his creaky legs allow him to reach his career goal of besting Jack Nicklaus?